our staff preparing

Easter takes a lot of preparation to make sure the incredible message is clearly proclaimed - we take this very seriously!

But today we took an hour to enjoy one another! Our staff is divided in half and every other month we take turns providing a carry in lunch! Our Easter lunch was SO excellent! Can you believe the talented chefs we have? Of course a certain unnamed - ornery pastor cut a rather large cube right out of the center of the gorgeous bunny cake!

Just when we thought it was time to get back to work, Jesse (youth guy) jumped up and said we were
dividing up on teams to go on an Easter egg hunt!

Now, we all knew who would win... Deering located one hidden egg after another and led the Directors to victory! And so after excellent food and fellowship we went back to our work and are all looking forward to what we pray will be a life changing weekend for many, many people!

cheap is good

I bought a Dove Hair Conditioner product that was on sale for $4.00 and used a #1.50 off coupon, and received a $4.00 Walgreen bucks back!

I then took my Walgreen bucks to another Walgreen and purchased a $5.00 - 12 pack of Scott toilet paper using a $1.00 off Walgreen coupon and got it for FREE except .34 cents tax! The clerk said it was the lowest sale she had ever made!

I went back the next day for another Dove Hair conditioner and now have Walgreen bucks = $4.00 that I'm going back to get something that my hubby asked for today, FREE! YAY - so fun.

I actually did quite a bit of couponing this week - Snuggle Fabric Softener and dryer sheet deals, Hasbro games at Toys R Us and on and on!

PLEASE share your best deal this week - because with Easter coming I cannot spend anymore time this week looking for deals! Can you help all of us!! Thanks!

what I learned today

I got girls! Girlfriends that is. Some of us girls from Crossroads meet once a month for breakfast! As I got caught up with each one it dawned on me that we are girlfriends!

Girlfriends had been a terrifying term to me in the past, it usually conjured up visions of constant talking, gossip, looooong telephone conversations (I HATE to talk on the phone...texting in the greatest invention known to mankind!), neediness - you get the idea of my former opinion of girlfriends. But times have changed.

Everyone is buys, everyone seems more confident and it has become a mutually giving and receiving relationship now with all my girls! I know if I needed them they would all be at my home immediately but we give one another space in between times of need. How blessed am I?

So after I finished hangin' with the girls I stopped to make yet another 'deal of the century coupon purchase' and another one of my girlfriends called and said she just saw me in the parking lot where I was digging through my coupons. She talked for a while - saying very encouraging things to me and continued on her way...

I know many people out there are very lonely. If you are willing to take a word of advise I would say this. Be mutually giving in your relationships, don't just take - give too! By that I mean, respect your friends family time, don't monopolize their days off, limit phone calls unless you really need to convey a message and when you do talk be encouraging, not always needy! I think these few guidelines will go a long way to create new strong friendships that you will both benefit from.

Today I learned, I have a whole lot of great girls around me and I thank my God that I could go to any one of them just to hang out or in a time of need! I am blessed!

my day off...not

It's Easter Week! So there is no such thing as a day off and it was hopping at Crossroads today!

Preparation for musicians, artists, teachers, actors and as many people as we can fit in are well under way!









These are just a few pics I took of my buddies helping to do everything from carry platforms to assist with sound check. (Deering and Steve are never allowed on the instruments again...my ears!!)

You can invite your friends to Crossroads on line by going to our website at
www.crossroadswired.com and click on the "Invite Your Friends" button and you can send an invitation to anyone who has an email address! Let's pack the church!

Most of all pray for those who will meet Christ as their personal savior! These are the New Believer kits waiting to be given to those who accept the Lord on Easter weekend!

The last time I met with the Crossroads artists, 2 out of 5 said they attended Crossroads for the first time on Easter a few years ago...this tells you the potential this weekend holds! PLEASE invite your family and friends and pray for the staff this week. The enemy usually gets a few nasty jabs in each year in an attempt to discourage us or interfere with the plans!



May God richly bless your week- we will be waiting for you this weekend!

weekend report

YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!

Today we used a video that we shot using one veteran actor, (Maureen Browning our Drama Team Leader), and two actors new to Crossroads! The concept/script came from The Skit Guys - one of our favorite drama sites right now. PLEASE watch this video to see how we advertised our Easter services next weekend.

Our Set List:

We kicked off our set with 2 originals that we performed as people entered the auditorium! I am so proud of our writers!

Beautiful Savior - Crossroads
My God, My King (You Reign) - Crossroads
Video: Easter Invite
Announcements: Pastor Tim
Praise: One Way - Hillsong
Praise: King Of Majesty - Hillsong
Worship: All For Love - Hillsong United
Worship: Amazed - Brewster
Message: More Than A Story -Jesse Rider, Sr. High Pastor
Special Music: Untitled Hymn - Chris Rice
Message conclusion
Praise Reprise: Amazed

To see what other ministries used in their setlists - go to www.theworshipcommunity.com

To watch our services on Monday -go to www.crossroadswired.com

deconstruct

In order to clean you have to take things out, deconstruct.

As I took dishes from my cabinets today to clean and to eliminate unused dishes, I thought back over the last few weekends' teachings from Ephesians. The teachings were powerful words from God.

Deconstruction/Reconstruction.

First you empty it all out and clean it, then you fill it back up...with the right stuff, only with the necessary things.

Much like my house, my life is sometimes full of too much stuff. This does not allow enough room for the right things. How sad it must make my God when there is no room for him in my days full of stuff... I will continue my cleaning in more ways than one.

the gunshow

Our son had his CD release show last night! The Currents album is on iTunes. A huge turn out made it a whole lot of fun!

The stage was so surrounded by kids I couldn't even catch a glimpse of the band! So we will settle for merch pictures and their promo shot I guess. These are their shirts - (nice Indian!) I think they have as much fun designing them as selling them. To look around the room and see how many people were wearing their shirts was fun!

They hit the road this morning bright and early and will be playing tonight in Indiana then head toward Illinois. They will be gone for almost a month and we will miss them!

We encouraged them to serve the Lord in every aspect of their travels and prayed them on their way. What an exciting time of travel and unusual ministry. From what we as parents have seen, thegunshow has a good handle on combining authentic ministry with opportunity to perform and witness. We are extremely proud of our son!!

How cool!